So, what do you do with the scrap materials that result when producing vehicle components? Nowadays, recycling is de rigueur. But MINI is, at least in a limited way, going well beyond that, as it is collaborating with fashion designer Ilaria Venturini Fendi in an up-cycling effort, producing a limited edition run of CARMINA CAMPUS bags that are made from various materials left over from the production of the MINI Roadster.

Specifically, there is seat leather or canvas from the soft top used for the outer shell of the bag. Color samples for painting are used to create a mosaic on the exterior of the bag. Material from the sunvisors are used as make-up mirror covers. And there’s more.

Said Anders Warming, head of MINI Design, “For many years now, the BMW Group has been working with creative people from all manner of fields. We are delighted to have found in Ilaria Venturini Fendi a designer who devotes her artistic powers above all to considerations of sustainability and up-cycling. For us these are key issues of the future which we are now addressing through this collaboration in customary MINI fashion.”

Adds Ms. Fendi: “I’m very happy about this collaboration. It shows just how aware MINI is of the motor industry’s impact on the environment and that it is working towards change. For big brands like MINI in particular, up-cycling is an important issue. After all, this is where you will always get scrap material that is generally described as waste, but in fact can become part of a high-quality object.”